Patent Application
20210114764
Packaged consumer goods are often transported from their production site to a distribution center or retailer using a pallet. Packages of consumer goods are stacked onto a pallet to create a unit load, which reduces the surface area required to store and transport the goods. The pallet, which is typically flat, supports the unit load and allows the load to be lifted by a forklift, or the like. The unit load may be secured with strapping, film wrap, or the like, to further stabilize and secure the load.
To further secure and stabilize unit loads a bottom tray may be positioned between the unit load and the pallet. For example, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,650,459 the unit load may be stacked on top of a bottom tray, which is formed from a blank of suitable dimensions and corresponding generally to those of the unit load. The blank from which the tray portion is formed is scored along parallel score lines and also along parallel lines to define end flanges and side flanges. The blank is notched at score lines thereby defining a flap at each of the four corners of the blank. As articles are loaded onto the tray for shipment, they are arranged in layers and the bottom layer bears upon side and end flanges, which flanges have previously been folded inwardly and secured by corner flaps, which have also been folded inwardly and upwardly to form a continuous upstanding flange at the periphery of tray panel. Thus, the weight of articles placed within the tray and bearing on these flaps, securely anchors the unit load.
Another tray useful in securing a unit load is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,251,753. The bottom tray includes opposed pairs of side walls, where a pair of opposed side walls each terminate in a locking tab having an outwardly projecting locking tongue member. When the side walls are folded to form the tray, the locking tongue members are inserted into cooperating arcuate slits formed at each end of the other pair of opposed side walls so as to maintain the tray in its folded configuration for shipping condition.
While trays for supporting and securing unit loads are available in a number of different configurations, each unique unit load requires a different tray as the trays can only be folded to a single final dimension. This leads to complexity and costs. What is needed is a tray that may be foldable into multiple dimensions to accommodate a wide range of unit load sizes, thereby reducing the number of unique trays, simplifying the loading process and reducing costs.
The present invention provides a blank that is foldable into multiple configurations. The folded blank may be useful as a tray or cap to support a plurality of packages stacked to form a floor loaded unit load. In other embodiments the tray may be used to support a unit load stacked onto a pallet for storage and transport. The various tray configurations each have different dimensions to accommodate and secure a range of unit load dimensions.
The tray of the present invention provides several benefits, including providing a continuous sidewall for receiving printing graphics, particularly a brand name, a logo, a color scheme, a graphic, or other indicia that is common to that of the packaged goods supported by the tray. A further advantage is that the various tray configurations may be sized to reduce risk of damage and safety hazards by minimizing the gap between the walls of the tray and the packaging of the unit load, particularly when the tray supports a floor loaded unit load and is grasped by a clap truck during transport. Additionally, the ability to fold a single blank into trays having different dimensions reduces the number of blanks required to accommodate a range of unit load sizes, which simplifies the loading process, reduces costs and minimizes waste.
In one embodiment the present invention provides a tray comprising a bottom panel; a pair of side walls extending from the central portion and separated therefrom by first and second spaced apart and substantially horizontally oriented fold lines, each side wall further comprising a first and a second pair of slots, each slot having a first and a second end; a pair of end walls extending from the central portion and separated therefrom by first and second spaced apart and substantially vertically oriented fold lines, each end wall comprising a first and a second end and a tab disposed at the first and second ends, each tab separated from the sidewall by a third and fourth substantially horizontally oriented fold line; wherein each tab and each side wall is foldable along the first and second pair of horizontal fold lines and each end wall is foldable along the first and second pair of vertical fold lines such that each tab may be received by a slot.
In another embodiment the present invention provides a tray comprising a bottom panel, a pair of opposed side walls extending from the bottom panel and a pair of opposed end walls extending from the bottom panel, wherein the side walls and end walls are foldable relative to the bottom panel to at least two fold positions such that at least a part of each folded wall defines a wall extending upwardly from the bottom wall and wherein folding of the walls to different fold positions varies the position of adjacent wall ends relative to each other; the end walls comprising tabs disposed at a first and a second end of the wall and separated therefrom by a pair of spaced apart substantially horizontal fold lines, the tabs engageable in at least two different positions with slots disposed on the side walls when the walls are folded to their at least two folded positions.
In still other embodiments the present invention provides a folded tray comprising a rectangular bottom panel and first, second, third and fourth adjoining walls; the first and second adjoined walls separated from the central portion by spaced apart and substantially vertical first and second fold lines, the first and second adjoined walls each having first and second opposed ends and a tab disposed at the first and second opposed ends, the tab separated from the first and second adjoined walls by spaced apart and substantially horizontal third and fourth fold lines; the third and fourth adjoined walls separated from the central portion by spaced apart and substantially horizontal fifth and sixth fold lines, the third and fourth walls further comprising a first and a second pair of slots disposed thereon, each slot having a first and a second end, wherein each of the first ends terminate at the fifth and sixth fold lines; wherein the first and second walls are foldable along first or second fold lines, each tab is foldable along the third or fourth fold lines and the third and fourth walls are foldable along the fifth or sixth fold lines after which each tab can be received by the slot disposed on the third or fourth walls.
In still another embodiment the present invention provides a blank foldable into a tray comprising a bottom panel, a pair of opposed side walls and a pair of oppose end walls, each of the walls extending from the bottom panel and symmetrical about a centerline extending along a transverse axis perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the opposed side walls, a first pair of longitudinal extending fold lines for folding the side wall relative to the bottom panel, a first pair of transversely extending fold lines for folding the end wall relative to the bottom panel, the end walls having first and second ends and a tab extending therefrom, the tab foldable along first and second longitudinal extending fold lines, and the side walls having a pair of slots spaced apart from one another in a direction along the longitudinal axis of the side wall and in a direction along a transverse axis perpendicular to the longitudinal axis, the slots shaped to receive the tabs.
In yet another embodiment the present invention provides a unit load for the transport of consumer products comprising a pallet, a plurality packages loaded on the pallet to form a stack having a bottom edge, a top edge and a plurality of vertical corners, a bottom tray between the pallet and the stack, wherein the bottom tray comprises a bottom panel and opposed end walls and opposed side walls which extend from the bottom panel and are foldable to two or more fold positions relative to the bottom panel, wherein the opposed end walls have tabs disposed at their ends that are foldable to two or more fold positions and which are received by slots disposed on the side walls to form tray corners such that the tray completely surrounds the bottom edge of the stack.
The present invention provides a blank that is foldable into a tray, also referred to herein alternatively as a cap, of varying dimensions. The tray of the present invention is useful in securing a unit load and may be used either as a bottom tray or a top cap for securing a unit load. In certain instances the tray is useful as a bottom tray placed between a stack of packages and the floor or a pallet and comprises one or more side walls, also referred to herein as flaps, that are folded upwardly around one or more sides of the bottom edge of the stack. The side walls include multiple fold lines to facilitate folding the tray into multiple configurations. The side walls further comprise end tabs and slits, which facilitate the folded side walls to be secured to one another and to completely surround the bottom edge of the stack.
In certain preferred embodiments the blank is foldable into a tray having two or more different areas and a perimeter defined by a continuous side wall that is folded upwards, or downwards depending on the orientation of the tray, to completely surround a stack of packages. For example, a single blank may be foldable into a first configuration having a surface area, defined as the length between opposed end walls multiplied by the width between opposed side walls, from about 0.5 to about 2.0 square meters and a second configuration having a surface area that is about 2 to about 20 percent greater that the surface area of the first configuration, such as from about 5 to about 10 percent greater. In both configurations the corners, defined by a folded tab extending from an end of the end wall which has been inserted into a slot disposed on the side wall to join the end and side wall together, may be continuous and therefore eliminate the need for corner posts, which are commonly used in securing unit loads. Further, the resulting folded tray may have continuous sidewalls that may be printed with graphics, such as branding or logos, to communicate the contents of the unit load.
The blank may be made of any suitable material such as, for example, fiberboard, containerboard, corrugated containerboard, corrugated cardboard, paperboard, or the like. Corrugated containerboard is particularly useful because it is light weight yet sufficiently rigid, and can also be cut in a flat shape to form a blank 10, such as that illustrated in
While in certain embodiments the blank 10 advantageously has four flaps 20, 21, 22, 23 extending from each side of the bottom panel 30, as exemplarily illustrated in
The opposed side flaps 20, 22 extending from the bottom panel 30 are separated therefrom by first and second spaced apart and substantially horizontally oriented fold lines 40, 42 (illustrated as dotted lines, although they may be either continuous or discontinuous, as discussed in more detail below). The first and second fold lines 40, 42 are provided parallel to edge 12 in blank 10 and spaced therefrom to provide the desired depth of the folded tray. The fold lines are generally parallel to one another and linear and each defines a line along which a given side flap may be folded relative to the bottom panel. Further, the fold lines 40, 42 are arranged such that the inner most fold line 40 defines a first outer edge 13 of bottom panel 30 and the outer most fold line 40 defines a first folded edge 14 of the flap 20.
The horizontal oriented fold lines can be made in any suitable manner and can comprise a continuous or discontinuous fold line. Preferably the fold lines are made by creasing the material and/or perforating portions of the material along the fold lines. Fold lines may be provided between each side flap and the bottom panel of the bottom tray for making the folding of the side walls around the bottom edge of the stack easier. Depending on the final dimensions of the folded tray the horizontally extending fold lines 40, 42 may be spaced apart from one another about 3 to about 15 cm, such as from about 5 to about 10 cm. Further, while the illustrated embodiment comprises two horizontally oriented fold lines, the invention is not so limited and the blank may comprise two or more horizontally oriented fold lines dividing the bottom panel and a side panel, such as 2, 3, 4 or 5 fold lines.
A pair of substantially vertically oriented fold lines 44, 46 separate the end flaps 21, 23 from the bottom panel 30. The fold lines 44, 46 are generally parallel to one another and linear and each defines a line along which a given side flap 20, 22 may be folded relative to the bottom panel 30. Further, the fold lines 44, 46 are arranged such that the inner most fold line 44 defines a first outer edge 15 of bottom panel 30 and the outer most fold line 46 defines a first folded edge 18 of the flap 21.
Like the horizontally extending fold lines 40, 42, the vertical fold lines 44, 46 may be formed by any one of the well-known techniques in the art and may be either continuous or discontinuous and are generally provided to facilitate folding of the end walls 21, 23. Depending on the final dimensions of the folded tray the vertically extending fold lines 44, 46 may be spaced apart from about 3 to about 15 cm, such as from about 5 to about 10 cm. Further, while the illustrated embodiment comprises two vertically oriented fold lines, the invention is not so limited and the blank may comprise two or more vertically oriented fold lines dividing the bottom panel and an end panel, such as 2, 3, 4 or 5 fold lines.
In certain embodiments the bottom panel 30 of the blank 10 may be shaped and sized to be generally contiguous with the surface of a pallet. For example, the bottom panel may be substantially rectangular having a length (I) extending between opposed first vertically oriented fold lines and a width (w) extending between opposed first horizontally oriented fold lines. The bottom panel may have a surface area of at least about 0.5 square meters, such as from about 0.5 to about 2.0 square meters. Further, in certain embodiments, the fold lines may be disposed relative to the bottom panel and one another such that the footprint of the stack (i.e. the surface of the first layer of packages in a unit layer) matches approximately the upper surface area of the pallet and the surface of the bottom panel. In other embodiments the stack and the upper surface area of the pallet may exceed the area of the bottom panel such that a portion of the flaps are disposed between the pallet and the stack. In other embodiments the footprint of the stack and the bottom panel may be smaller than the surface of the pallet. For example, the area of the bottom panel may be about 5 percent less than surface area of the pallet and in certain embodiments 10 percent less than surface area of the pallet.
With continued reference to
In a particularly preferred embodiment, such as that illustrated in
First and second tuck tab slots 50, 52 are generally configured to receive tabs 27, 29 disposed at each of the first and second ends 24, 25 of the opposed end flaps 21, 23. First and second tabs 27, 29 may be formed by cutting away a portion of the blank 10. For example, a portion of the blank adjacent to the ends of the first and second fold lines may be cut away to form the tabs and a gap between the side flaps and the tabs. In certain preferred embodiments the tabs may be notched to facilitate interlocking of the tab when it is inserted into the tuck tab slot.
Each tab 27, 29 is hingedly connected to an end flap 21, 23 by substantially horizontally oriented fold lines 47, 48. Depending on the final dimensions of the folded tray the horizontally extending fold lines 47, 48 may be spaced apart from about 3 to about 15 cm, such as from about 5 to about 10 cm. Further, while the illustrated embodiment comprises two horizontally oriented fold lines 47, 48 the invention is not so limited and the blank may comprise two or more horizontally oriented fold lines dividing the end flap and the tabs, such as 2, 3, 4 or 5 fold lines. In certain preferred embodiments the fold lines 47, 48 are spaced and arranged substantially similarly to the horizontal fold lines 40, 42 separating the bottom panel 30 and the side flaps 20, 22.
With reference now to
The folded tray 100 has four folded corners 150, 151, 152, 153, which are generally formed by folding tabs 160, 161, 162, 163 about first and/or second fold lines 175, 176. With reference to one of the corners 152, the corner is secured by tucking the first end 165 of the tab 161 into a slot 170 disposed on the side wall 122. In the illustrated embodiment, where the tray is formed by folding along both a first and second fold line 140, 144 the corner is formed by folding along both a first and second fold line 175, 176 and tucking the tab 161 into the first 170 of a pair of slots 170, 171 disposed on the side wall 122. In this embodiment the tray is folded to its smallest configuration, as measured by the area of the bottom panel 130, with sidewalls 120, 121, 122, 123 having their maximum height.
With reference to
The ability to configure a single blank into trays having different dimensions is particularly useful for fitting stacks of packages, such as packages of consumer goods, having different dimensions and further to provide the stacks with a tray, either a bottom tray or top cap, that completely surrounds and protects the stacks and which may be configured without the use of adhesives. Such a tray or cap is represented in
In the embodiment of
With continued reference to
The fold lines and flaps may be arranged in a variety of configurations relative to the top surface of the pallet depending upon the size to the pallet and the dimensions of the stack to be retained. For example, in the illustrated embodiment the fold lines 40, 42, 44, 46 separating the bottom panel 30 from the flaps 20, 21, 22, 23 all lie within upper surface 181 of the pallet 180. Further, the fold lines 40, 42, 44, 46 are arranged such that a portion of each of the flaps 20, 21, 22, 23 overlays a portion of the upper surface 181 of the pallet 180 and a portion extends beyond the pallet surface 181. The portion of the flaps that extends beyond the pallet may be equal to or less than the flap portion within the surface of the pallet.
As shown in
The stack 205 of packages 200 is gradually built, by stacking layer upon layer. This may be manually done or by machine means. The stack may also be placed in a single step over the bottom tray if a machine is provided with this capacity. One or more slip sheets may be optionally placed intermediate one, several, or all the layers of packages. Such slip sheet may be made of any material such as, for example, a sheet of paper, paperboard or cardboard.
Packages may be stacked one on top of another to complete a unit load, such as that illustrated in
While the inventive blanks and trays have been described in detail with respect to the specific embodiments thereof, it will be appreciated that those skilled in the art, upon attaining an understanding of the foregoing, may readily conceive of alterations to, variations of, and equivalents to these embodiments. Accordingly, the scope of the present invention should be assessed as that of the appended claims and any equivalents thereto and the following embodiments:
In a first embodiment the present invention provides a folded tray comprising a bottom panel having horizontal and vertical opposing edges; a pair of side walls extending from the bottom panel and separated therefrom by first and second spaced apart and substantially horizontally oriented fold lines, each side wall further comprising a first and a second pair of slots, each slot having a first and a second end; a pair of end walls extending from the bottom panel and separated therefrom by first and second spaced apart and substantially vertically oriented fold lines, each end wall comprising a first and a second end and a tab disposed at the first and second ends, each tab separated from the end wall by a third and fourth substantially horizontally oriented fold line; wherein each tab and each side wall is foldable along the first and second pair of horizontal fold lines and each end wall is foldable along the first and second pair of vertical fold lines such that each tab may be received by a slot.
In a second embodiment the present invention provides the folded tray of the first embodiment wherein each of the first slot ends terminates at a first or a second substantially horizontally oriented fold line separating the side wall from the bottom panel.
In a third embodiment the present invention provides the folded tray of the first or the second embodiment wherein the third substantially horizontally oriented fold line is continuous with the first substantially horizontally oriented fold line separating the side wall from the bottom panel.
In a fourth embodiment the present invention provides the folded tray of any one of the first through third embodiments wherein the fourth substantially horizontally oriented fold line is not continuous with the second substantially horizontally oriented fold line separating the side wall from the bottom panel.
In a fifth embodiment the present invention provides the folded tray of any one of the first through fourth embodiments wherein a portion of the end walls is separate from and discontinuous with the bottom panel.
In a sixth embodiment the present invention provides the folded tray of any one of the first through fifth embodiments wherein the slots have a curvilinear portion, a substantially horizontally oriented linear portion and a substantially vertically oriented linear portion.
In a seventh embodiment the present invention provides the folded tray of any one of the first through sixth embodiments wherein the first and second spaced apart and substantially horizontally oriented fold lines are spaced apart a distance from about 5 to about 10 cm and the first and second spaced apart and substantially vertically oriented fold lines are spaced apart a distance from about 5 to about 10 cm.
In an eighth embodiment the present invention provides the folded tray of any one of the first through seventh embodiments wherein folding along first substantially horizontally oriented fold lines and first substantially vertically oriented fold lines results in a folded tray having a first surface area and wherein folding along second substantially horizontally oriented fold lines and second substantially vertically oriented fold lines results in a folded tray having a second surface area, wherein the second surface area is from about 5 to about 10 percent greater than the first surface area.
In a ninth embodiment the present invention provides the folded tray of any one of the first through eighth embodiments wherein the tray has four corners, each corner formed by a tab folded along a third and fourth substantially horizontally oriented fold line.
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/US18/20093 | 2/28/2018 | WO | 00 |
